Cuiken

The SCT410.3 is currently only £329! Sure, that's a roller so fairly pricey for a 1/10 SCT but still, not even more expensive than a Tamiya XV-02. Having just bought a Lasernut though (and not even having finished 'rebuilding' it) I should probably stop browsing other trucks. That said, anyone got a Tekno SCT? How's it compare to the usual suspects (slash, senton etc...)?

I hear many great things about Tekno (especially durability) but there don't seem to be any, or at least many, dealers in the UK. Is Tekno just not much of 'a thing' in the UK? If all the hype is true, the SCT 410.3 looks like a decent truck. Plus, it's a kit. Just curious if anyone is actually using them in the UK.

I've heard rumours of this larger pinion bearing (13x5x4 rather than 11x5x4) but I haven't seen any evidence of this on the Losi rear gearbox parts available. My new bearing kit also came with 11x5x4 parts with no alternative option for a V2. I'd also read that the SCTE rear gearbox featured larger bearings but, again, this isn't reflected in the build manual or any of the bearing kits available. Delighted to be wrong on his but would like to know for sure before ordering new parts 🙂 Didn't realise that vitavon make a centre diff. If my silicone sealant solution fails, I might have to bite the bullet on that. Like yours, I'm not planning on bashing this buggy hard. Just blasting round the local woods etc. Hopefully it'll hold up to that okay. Pretty close to finishing my build now but ran into some issues with the Tekno drive shafts. For some reason, they don't quite fit the front hubs. Basically, it all seemed fine until I added a wheel and tightened it down. At that point the wheel pushed the hex back against the outer bearing and caused the axle to bind up. It's as though the hole for the pin is fractionally too close to the collar that sits against the inner bearing. So, when tightened down the bearings get a bit crushed. It's fine when the wheel is off or loose but that's not really a lot of use. Trying to figure out a solution. Cheers.

Thanks. I've spotted these on your build thread. Juts on a matter of principle though I feel like I should try to make the existing parts work (three sets of internal gears would be another £50 on the car). Like I said in my last update, I think the main issue on the centre diff is the fact that it uses an end cap on both sides (rather than being a 'cup' with the spur gear on one side). I think this is why it leaked in the box but also increases the scope for play in the diff (more parts, more tolerances.....). The front diff went back together far better. I'll see how the back one does when I get to it 🙂

Front diff reassembled with the tekno drive cups. Tekno parts seem lovely. Only issue (similar to ARRMA IIRC) is that the cups are larger than the inner diameter of the bearing so you need to dismantle the whole diff to change the external bearings now. Tolerances on the front diff seem better. I squeezed in one extra Xray shim and it seemed pretty good after that. On the other hand, once installed back in the bulkhead, the mesh between the ring and pinion is just a fraction tight. I'd normally remove a shim from either the diff assembly itself or from behind the pinion gear. However, since (as I say) that would required removing the outdrives from the diff and that the drive cup is stuck on the pinion, it looks like it's just going to have to 'bed in'. The grub screws on the sway bar were totally loose too. I don't know if I've picked up a V1 car (stickers weren't brilliantly applied) but it seems to have every assembly defect int he book. On that... I've figured out why the centre diff was dry. It's because all the oil leaked out into the box during transit. The cardboard below the car in the box is saturated. Looking at the diff I think the issue is that the aluminium centre diff requires an end cap rather than being a 'cup' like the plastic ones. The end cap is made from pressed aluminium and I'm reckoning that there is enough flex in that for it to leak fluid even when tightened down. I've added some silicone gasket during the centre diff rebuild to hopefully remedy this. What a car......

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Just stripped down the centre diff. Dry as a bone. Literally no fluid in it at all. Already had 2 shims behind each sun gear and was still sloppy as hell. I've added another two shims and it seemed better. Sealed it all up now and am worrying it'll still not be meshed enough. No wonder these cars have a rep........

Started stripping down 'The Nut'. Few observations: Build quality is 'inconsistent'. Some parts are fine but you get stuff like: Badly applied stickers. The rear A-arms slide back and forth on the pins. There really should be some shims/spacers on there. The diffs are not brilliantly machined. The ring and pinion are well enough shimmed but half the rotation is smooth and the other have a bit gnarly. The front diff was almost totally dry when i opened it up. It seems that the cars get quite different levels of attention when built. Like I say, the front diff's ring/pinion were as well meshed as the machining would allow. Similarly, the front diff internals were nicely set up with shims behind the planetary and sun gears. Other people seem to have reported having no shims behind the planetary gears? I should get the new tekno shafts tomorrow and then I can start re-assembling. The Team Associated Nomad wheels have turned up too and look pretty good. Key learning on those! the stock wheels have minimal offset from centre. The Nomads have large negative offset. I hadn't stopped to check this so spent a small fortune on HR 12mm to 17mm adapters with minimal extension. Turns out you need ~9mm of extension on the hub adapter to match the stock wheel offset when using the Nomads. In the end bought some cheap and cheerful ones off of amazon that will work well. I'll update as it all goes back together.....

That's helpful, thanks. I figured that I'd be tight for space for additional shims behind those planetary gears. I'll probably see how I get on with the stock internal gears and those Xray shims in the first instance. I might just pop the RC bearing ones in as I go and keep the stock ones as spares. Cheers

Got proactive and asked google. Found this: https://www.rctech.net/forum/electric-off-road/849396-how-build-scte-bulletproof-diffs.html Solid recommendation for some Xray diff shims so thought I'd order a set and see how I get on. These are only suited for the Sun gears though so keen to hear if anyone else is using shims behind the planetary gears? Also ordered some 12x18mm shims for the out drive bearings and assuming I'll be able to find something in my random box of bits to shim the diff pinions. Ohh, an also bought a full set of bearings from RC Bearings. Principally this was to get some ball bearings for the steering (to replace the brass ones) but I have the option of swapping out the stock bearings elsewhere while I do the diffs. Is there really consensus that the RC Bearing ones will be better than stock?

Loads of useful stuff there thanks! Particularly curious about those replacement internal gears for the differentials. Any recollection about which size of shims you used on the diff internals? My mate damaged the front diff on his under braking. Keen to get everything properly meshed to help avoid that.

It was always going to happen. Despite the cheese based bulkheads, lead drive shafts, porcelain differentials and play-doh wheels, it looks the way it looks and drives the way it drives. To avoid the common fails my plan is this: 1. Tekno drive shafts on the front. That'll leave me with a pair of spares for the rear 2. SCTE bumper and RPM skids (just because I'm a terrible driver) 3. Rear diff metal bearing carriers (TLR3100) to allow more accurate shimming of the rear diff 4. Team Associated Nomad wheels and tyres with HR 12mm to 17mm converters. I gather many people have just super glued the wheel hexes directly into the stock wheels and found that solves the wheel issue but I think a 4S car should really run 17mm wheels 5. Rebuild and shim all diffs before use I'm sure it'll find some new and innovative way to fail beyond these mods but hopefully I'll already have hit all the major weak points. Anyone got any further tips? Any recommended shim setups for the diffs for example? Cheers. edit: Ohh yes, and new servo. Opted for a JX Ecoboost 36kg. Not tried one before but the JX servo in my PTG-2 has been great. It's always a bit disappointing when you need to replace a servo right away on a new car. I'll add it to the pile of other duff rtr ones. I'd rather pay a few quid more for the car and have a decent servo from the off.

As title suggests, looking for a decent 17mm wheel on which to mount some Team Associated Nomad db8 tyres. Cheers.

As the title suggests. Looking for a. Losi db pro in good condition. If anyone has one going spare 🙂. then drop me a line. Cheers.

Love to know how you get on with that. Arrma 3S system should be ideal. The brushed setup that comes in the car looks utterly underwhelming 🙂

Been a while since I built this so thought I'd an an update. First, suspension mod was needed. The Element IFS system is not designed for speed nor (I'm guessing) the weight of a 5000mah 3S battery. As a result, the truck was grounding out very hard on the centre skid between the lower IFS arms. It was bad enough that when hitting the round after a minor 'whoop' the truck would front flip as the chassis dug into the ground. So, I added some bump stops to the front shocks to give a 'two stage' sort of compression profile. It can still bottom out under max compression but the last bit of travel is far firmer. Seems to work a treat: Other than that, the truck has been great. Took it out into the woods this weekend and did about 3km with it. Even with the 'non crawler' ESC and Motor it is smooth enough to climb tricky trails (though not proper rock crawling) while it's fast enough and planted enough to have great fun hooning around on loose dusty stuff. Like I've said before, it's the most scale truck Ive built from a handling perspective. It just looks totally convincing on bumpy trails or out on mown grass. Running it beside my slightly battered Element Sendero the Kyosho body just looks far cooler too. A proper looking race truck. Definitely my best custom build to date.

Alpha Romeo shell looks superb. It wasn't in stock anywhere when I built mine. Did you go for a sensored Castle combo? I think that'll be epic. The Max10 is really good but I'd be curious if a sensored motor might improve control in low speed corners. My XV01 has a castle sensored motor and low speed corners are probably the only area where is bests the PTG2. A selection of plastic servo horns came with the kit but I don't think there's any issue with them. The car has a decent servo saver so it shouldn't be over loaded. Also, the small wheel size reduces impact on the whole steering setup. Certainly, no need to preemptively replace in my experience. I went with the servo below: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07T7TLLK8?ref_=pe_27063361_487360311_302_E_DDE_dt_1 Really good. Plenty of power for a small car and really fast. Enjoy your build.

Thanks for sharing this. Shame it’s not totally robust. Those wheels look great. What chassis is that btw?

Not actually broken mine yet but best two uk based suppliers are mentioned in my build. both provide very fast shipping.

My rally obsession continues. Anyone got any experience of the Traxxas Fiesta? Almost too large to be a 1/8th but still appeals.

Can’t comment on specific brands but I’d say you want a ~5500kv motor (for 2S). As mentioned, I’m using a max10. Having run it a few more times I’m considering removing the sway bars. I just don’t think they are adding much. These are not specifically for the PTG2 but can be bodged in. Honestly, try it without first. They are an easy retro fit if you want them later. Choose your body before deciding you want to widen the stance. In mine, I’m happy without spacers provided I use slightly more offset wheels.

Yes, it really does look like a bearing or spacer is 'missing' but actually it went together fine. Essentially, the drive shaft is supported at both ends but not in the middle. I think they are trying to avoid having three bearings on one solid axle as the one in the middle will suffer from any slight bend in the drive shaft.

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Mixed terrain but with some tarmac. I think it's the tarmac doing all the damage 😄. Went through a full set of road tyres today in just two packs on my PTG2.

I'm really enjoying my XV-01 and PTG-2 cars right now but the tyre wear is nuts. There are a quite a few places selling bulk lots of rally tyres (like 24 tyres in a pack) that look good but then I'd need to buy and glue 24 wheels/rims. As an alternative I was thinking I could get a set of beadlocks and keep swapping new tyres onto those. Has anyone tried something like this? Cheers.